Sideways Sammy

There will be much tougher challenges to come than at home to a Rotherham United side that hadn’t won an away match in 30 games, but getting the job done in comfort provides a timely confidence boost for Coventry City as the business end of the campaign begins to sharpen up. With a three-week break from league action on the horizon, getting another three points on the board will ensure the Sky Blues will be in a healthy position to close in on the top six over the final weeks of the season.

The opposition in Coventry’s way are a Watford side that have won just two league games in the calendar year – with the last a narrow win over Rotherham – and have a remote chance of being dragged into the almighty relegation battle if this slump continues. It looks another good opportunity for three points, but the Sky Blues will have to be wary of the opposition’s desperation for a positive result with pressure building on their manager, Valerien Ismael.

Expected Line-Up

Picking the same team as the one that thrashed Rotherham United on Tuesday night makes a lot of sense, however, rotation and the sense that it was far too easy for Coventry City last time out provides an argument for making at least a couple of changes.

Callum O’Hare and Milan van Ewijk, who were both on the bench in midweek, seem the likeliest to come in if Mark Robins feels the need to make any tweaks to the starting line-up. Bringing either in would involve taking players out of the team who played relatively well on Tuesday night, but the quality and freshness the duo would provide could provide that burst of explosiveness that could lead to a positive result.

Bringing Milan van Ewijk into the team would see Josh Eccles removed from a right wing-back position that he played well in last time out. However, Van Ewijk’s pace could be useful in subduing Watford’s threat in wide areas. In addition, Liam Kelly’s lack of mobility was a concern in midweek and will be more of an issue here against an opposition with more talented attacking midfield players, moving Josh Eccles in central midfield would ease that worry..

As for Callum O’Hare, the two options for bringing him into the team involve either him taking Haji Wright’s place and switching to 3-4-2-1 for some more solidity in an away fixture or coming in as a like-for-like replacement for Kasey Palmer. It seems a shame to break up the Ellis Simms-Haji Wright strike partnership in the immediate wake of the first time they have looked like one, but that the first time Simms & Wright have looked like a strike pairing was against the worst defence in the league suggests that maybe not too much should be into that performance. The sensible move would be to revert to 3-4-2-1 and keep Wright as a game-changer from the bench later on.

Last Time We Met

It was a wacky game back at the CBS Arena in September as Coventry City and Watford served up a goal-fest that was almost purely down to poor defending from both sides. A Matt Godden penalty miss in the 20th minute meant the Sky Blues eventually were left to chase the game for the remainder of the 90 minutes, with Watford taking the lead after Tom Ince somehow picked out Mileta Rajovic unmarked in the penalty area to finish from close-range, despite there being seven blue shirts in the box. It was level at the break, however, when Milan van Ewijk bounced an unconventional-looking free-kick over the wall and into the back of the net from long range.

Just after the break, Watford were back ahead, thanks to Coventry City’s defence deciding to sit back and admire Matheus Martins as he carried the ball 30-yards forward off his wing and curled an effort under little pressure past Ben Wilson. Fortunately, the Hornets’ back-line was in an even more charitable mood, with Wesley Hoedt misjudging a pretty needless back-pass which rolled into the back of his own net. Sportingly, Bobby Thomas took the cue soon after with a poor back-pass of his own to allow Tom Dele-Bashiru to pick out Mileta Rajovic to put Watford back ahead with 11 minutes remaining.

A final show of meek defensive play allowed Coventry City to salvage a point, with Haji Wright breaking up the pitch at walking pace, beating two defenders and teasing a pull-back for Matt Godden to fire home emphatically for a share of the points.

The Opposition

The Manager – Valerien Ismael

Hanging by a thread, it only seems a matter of time before Valerien Ismael is sacked by Watford. What had started as a promising campaign, with the club seeming to be committed to sticking with a manager through thick and thin has nosedived since the turn of the year. Ismael has had Watford playing some decent football this season with a squad made up of the leftovers of previous eras at a time the club has been looking to reduce costs. That lack of resources has begun to bite over the past few months, with few players in form and little ability to rotate to freshen things up.

When Valerien Ismael impressed this season had been in a clear playing identity of pressing high and building from the back, with the latter a departure from Ismael’s previous approach of playing quick, direct football to overwhelm opponents. As the campaign has worn on, it has become apparent that not only do Watford not possess enough players who fit into that style of play but there is little willingness from the ownership to recruit players who do. Like many Watford managers in the past, Ismael is being hung out to dry by an ownership group that has relied heavily on agents to bring players into the club.

Who To Look Out For?

The big hope for Watford heading into future campaigns is the talent of attacking midfielder, Yaser Asprilla, who has played 70 games of Championship football having arrived directly from South America as a teenager. The 20 year-old is capable of some truly sublime moments with his passing, shooting and dribbling, a truly unpredictable footballer who can make magic happen in tight spaces. One of few players in the squad with a genuinely big future in the game, Watford are going to do well to hold onto Asprilla beyond the coming summer.

The other hopeful prospects in this Watford side are currently struggling for game-time, with attacking midfielders, Giorgi Chakvetadze, Matheus Martins, Ismael Kone in central midfield and Ryan Andrews at right-back largely out of favour as Valerien Ismael has turned to experience to dig the team out of a hole. All four could well come in here as a last throw of the dice from the manager, with Chakvetadze having starred from the bench on Wednesday night to help salvage a point against Swansea City, while Martins and Kone are capable of driving the team forward from their respective positions too.

Of the experienced attacking players, Emmanuel Dennis was brought back to the club on loan in January to much fan-fare as someone who stood out for the team previously at Premier League level but has struggled to get going as a result of the team’s poor form. Both Mileta Rajovic and Vakoun Bayo have scored a decent amount of goals this season but neither has convinced, with Rajovic too limited outside of the penalty area and Bayo too inconsistent in front of goal, combine the two and there’s a good striker there. Winger/full-back, Ken Sema, is a reliable performer with his pace and physicality but has struggled this campaign as a result of not being used in any one position for a run of games.

At the back, Ryan Porteous and Wesley Hoedt have been a decent centre-back partnership but aren’t quite the mobile, ball-playing defenders Valerien Ismael has really needed to get the team going with the short, passing style he has looked to play, with their lack of range on the ball and shortage of pace having been exposed on multiple occasions. Ryan Andrews at right-back and Jamal Lewis at left-back can get forward and support attacks well but have struggled for form of late as the team has entered a dip.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

This looks to be the perfect time to be playing Watford, with the team thoroughly out of form and a manager on the verge of the sack. While the Hornets can be a danger with their pressing style and players like Yaser Asprilla, Matheus Martins and Giorgi Chakvetadze who are capable of brilliance in the final third, the issue at the moment is that the team is short on both fitness and motivation to make that pressing work. They are consistently conceding the majority of possession to opponents and making it easy for teams to play around them.

There remains a danger in this game from the likes of Yaser Asprilla, Matheus Martins, Giorgi Chakvetadze and Emmanuel Dennis on the counter-attack. If Liam Kelly starts this game, the concern is that he will struggle to plug gaps in midfield with quick, skilful players running at him. Even if he doesn’t, all of Coventry City’s centre-backs have shown they are prone to getting caught out when isolated in one-against-ones, although, Joel Latibeaudiere’s pace in the centre of the three could help bail out unfavourable situations.

Providing the man in form, Ellis Simms, with quality service in the penalty looks the key target from an attacking perspective in this game. Whether the attack lines up with two up top or with two behind Simms, the centre-forward could do with players making runs close to and beyond him to open up space for him to get shots on goal from. That Watford back-line can be left isolated and scrambling by the team in front of it, it’s up to those attacking players to take advantage of that.